There is no point in being negative in a 7-3 victory game story.
The Flames came out quickly, jumped on Ottawa, and didn’t sit on the lead. It was a quality home start for the team as they look to turn their season around and get back into a playoff battle.
But it’s one game.
Fun to watch, lots of scoring, some great signs from the reformed lines and Dillon Dube with a hat trick, but it’s not about this night, it’s about the next one as the Flames have to prove they can do this night in and night out and go on a streak.
But for one night it’s a check mark, and a solid effort.
Bring on the struggling Oilers.
The Line Up
Not a surprise to see changes in who is dressed, nor is it a shock to see some new combinations given the stinker of a game the team played in Ottawa on Monday night. It was ugly. So out of the game comes Sam Bennett, Dominik Simon and Nikita Nesterov. Into the game comes Brett Ritchie, Oliver Kylington, and the returning Derek Ryan.
The Cage
Six straight starts for David Rittich, with a myriad of results. Absolutely fantastic in Toronto, but pretty iffy in all three starts in Ottawa to be honest, but you go with who you have I guess. Jacob Markstrom looks to be close, he backed up Rittich tonight so this could be his last game on the sidelines.
Jacob Markstrom
Goals saved above average -2.5
David Rittich
Save percentage above average -1.8
The Blueline
Geoff Ward switched up his third pairing after the ugly loss in Ottawa, moving Nikita Nesterov out for Oliver Kylington. Kylington played the left side with Juuso Valimaki. Mark Giordano lined up with Rasmus Andersson, and of course Noah Hanifin skated with Chris Tanev.
Giordano – Andersson
43% xGF in 273 minutes
Hanifin – Tanev
60% xGF in 339 minutes
Kylington – Valimaki
New Combination
Up Front
As discussed the return of Derek Ryan, a depth player with a big role who they missed. He lined up with Brett Ritchie and Joakim Nordstrom. The first line was back to the start of the season with Elias Lindholm between Matthew Tkachuk and Dillon Dube. Josh Levio joined Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau. Finally Mikael Backlund centered Milan Lucic and Andrew Mangiapane.
Tkachuk – Lindholm – Dube
41% xGF in 111 minutes
Gaudreau – Monahan – Leivo
55% xGF in 44 minutes
Lucic – Backlund – Mangiapane
69% xGF in 42 minutes
Ritchie – Ryan – Nordstrom
New combination.
The Start
Clearly the team came ready to play tonight, jumping on the Senators with four goals in the first period.
They scored on three of their first four shots, and then ran up a decent shot total the rest of the way as they continued to push the Senators.
If you want to find a silver lining to the team’s recent play, that makes three straight games with above average starts resulting in two wins. They lost badly on Monday night, but outplayed Ottawa significantly in the first periord.
Rittich’s Performance
Honestly not great.
He made some good saves, but probably let in a couple that he’s like to have back including an ugly short side goal on an Ottawa powerplay.
But he’s played six straight, and had minutes in eight straight … like Markstrom earlier in the year he certainly could be running out of gas.
Milan Lucic Part of the Start
Milan Lucic came to the defense of Geoff Ward, essentially calling out his teammates (and himself) for not being ready or willing to put in the effort needed to win at this level, something that angered many a fan who want Geoff Ward sent packing.
So it was interesting to see how engaged he was to start the game.
They old saying talk to the talk and walk the walk becomes even more so important when you’re questioning work ethic.
Lucic was on his physical game tonight, registering six hits, including running over Gubransson and creating a two on one that could have seen the red light come on.
Oliver Kylington’s Night
Thought he looked good overall.
He moves well, it jumps off the screen on most of his shifts.
Sometimes he can try and do too much, which we saw in the third with a rough turnover at the blueline resulting in a goal.
But overall there’s something there, may be smart to give him five in a row and see where he goes. Couldn’t hurt.
Dillon Dube’s First Career Hat Trick
Dillon Dube had himself a night.
Sure he had a hat trick, but he was also the team’s best player in underlying numbers, something that has seen him struggle though the season in finding a role and getting top six ice time.
Tonight his line was on the attack most of the game, they didn’t get caught in their own zone, and they attacked with speed.
Really good sign going forward.
Best Fourth Line This Season?
The fourth line has been a waste land this year for the Flames.
They get hemmed in nightly, and find themselves stapled to the bench.
Tonight the group was under water, but they managed to get near nine minutes of five on five hockey which was a boost, and scored two goals positively contributing to the outcome.
Derek Ryan was a steadying presence, and Brett Ritchie picked up two points as well on a great goal and setup for Ryan.
They were far from perfect, but getting that fourth line to close to ten minutes takes a bit of a load off the other three lines. Good sign.
Team Stats:
Shots – Flames 29 Ottawa 32
Face Offs – Flames 47%
Powerplay – Flames 0/1 Ottawa 1/6
Player Stats:
Points – Matthew Tkachuk led all skaters with three points, all on assists.
Plus/Minus – Rasmus Andersson led the way in terms of +/- with a +3 night.
Shots – Dillon Dube was at the top of the pile with four shots on goal.
Fancy Stats
With the Flames leading coast to coast, score effects was certainly in play as they finished the night at 48% with period splits of 55%/42% and 44%. In terms of high danger chances the Flames had a 7-5 edge (58%). Calgary had 46% of the expected goal splits.
In all situations, remember Ottawa had six powerplays to the Flames one, Calgary had 43% of the five on five shot attempts, 56% of the high danger splits, and 40% of the expected goal splits.
Individually, the Flames were led by Dillon Dube with 58% of the shot attempt share five on five. Elias Lindholm, Juuso Valimaki and Matthew Tkachuk also had solid night. Brett Ritichie and Derek Ryan were at the bottom of the pile with 36% and 42% respectively.
